The Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (Sosa), which represents 700 people who say they were abused at the home run by Lambeth Council in south London between the 1950s and 1980s, revealed its findings after a two-year investigation

When did the sexual abuse take place there?

The Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (Sosa) claims 700 people were abused at the council-run home from the 1950s to the 1980s.

The two-year report released yesterday by Raymond Stevenson, founder of Sosa, claims to have identified 60 alleged paedophiles and accuses police officers of corruption.

It has also claimed to have exposed a cover-up by Lambeth Council, which destroyed 140 care records during the mid-1990s.

It says 48 children died in Lambeth’s care system between 1970 and 1989.

Mr Stevenson told a press conference in central London: “I can tell you the abuse happened on an industrial scale.

"The physical abuse was damaging mentally – being locked in coal sheds, in cupboards, over years, what that does to a young mind is it makes you angry.”

It has also claimed to have exposed a cover-up by Lambeth Council, which destroyed 140 care records during the mid-1990s.

It says 48 children died in Lambeth’s care system between 1970 and 1989.

How much compensation will victims receive?

Lambeth Council is set to pay up to £40million compensation to thousands of former residents.

The local authority took the unprecedented step of agreeing to pay every former resident, even if they did not suffer abuse.